All posts tagged Phablet

Google this month expects to release its largest smartphone, intensifying competition in the fast-growing market for super-sized mobile devices known as phablets, according to three people familiar with the situation.

The new phone — code-named Shamu after a killer whale — will have a 5.9-inch screen, a high-resolution display and be sold under the Nexus brand, two of the people said. Motorola Mobility, the phone maker that Google is selling to China’s Lenovo Group Ltd., is manufacturing the phone, the people added. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.

The new phone will be larger than Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, which is 5.5 inches, and the Samsung Galaxy Note, the first truly successful phablet, which is 5.7 inches. Google plans to release a new version of its Android mobile-operating system at the same time. Read More »

Microsoft has made its smartphone software compatible with the large-screen phones known as phablets, giving the company’s allies their first chance to tap one of the hottest smartphone trends. Read More »

Samsung Electronics Co. has taken the wraps off the Galaxy Note 3, a phablet device many analysts had touted as a potential rescuer of the company’s slowing smartphone sales.

But other than a basic upgrade to the microprocessor, screen resolution and size, and a better functioning stylus pen, it looks much like a normal smartphone on the streets with a big screen of 5.7 inches. Samsung’s previous Note II had a screen size of 5.5 inches.

The application processor, known as the brain chip that powers the phone, matches the one on the Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone. It has a quad-core 2.3 gigahertz processor though it’s faster than the Note’s previous model that ran on a 1.6 GHz processor. Read More »

With the release of its Galaxy Gear smart watch, Samsung Electronics Co. is betting that consumers will be willing to pay up for a second device that provides some of the functionality of a smartphone — without having to reach into their pockets or purses.

Many people already have a hard time putting away their smartphones, giving them an exalted place at the dinner table and the pillow’s edge. But Samsung sees an unfulfilled niche market for a $299 device that makes some of the functions of its smartphones available on your wrist.

Yes, there’s a camera. There’s a weather application. There’s even a step-counting pedometer and S Voice, a voice-activated analog similar to Apple Inc.’s Siri. But this isn’t a device for sending e-mails, downloading music or conducting most tasks requiring more than two fingers at a time Read More »

Sony Corp. may not be selling as many smartphones as Samsung Electronics Co., but the Japanese electronics maker’s latest handset is challenging its South Korean competitor in at least one aspect: size.

Sony

The Sony Xperia Z Ultra

Sony on Tuesday debuted the Xperia Z Ultra, a new smartphone with a 6.4-inch full high-definition screen. Its size even stands out in the market for “phablets,” or smartphones with screens as large as tablets. It dwarfs Samsung’s popular 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II, and is slightly bigger than the Galaxy Mega, which comes with a 6.3-inch screen.

The Xperia Z Ultra is, for the most part, a larger version of the Xperia Z, Sony’s flagship smartphone with a five-inch screen released earlier this year. The Xperia Z – considered by many reviewers as Sony’s best smartphone to date – represented the struggling company’s all-out efforts to revitalize its smartphone business, after it ended its unsuccessful joint venture with Sweden’s Ericsson last year. Read More »

Consumers don’t usually associate cutting-edge specs with Chinese smartphone brands, but new handsets hitting the market could spell a change in that mindset.

Smartphones from Chinese companies like ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co. may be cheaper than Apple Inc.’s iPhone or Samsung Electronics Co.’s high-end Galaxy models, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are less advanced.

ZTE’s newest offering is a “phablet”, or a smartphone with a screen almost as large as some tablets, called the Grand Memo. It comes with a 5.7-inch high-definition screen, Qualcomm Inc.’s newest Snapdragon 800 processor and a 13-megapixel camera. It will start selling in the second quarter. Read More »

Whether you like the “phablets” nickname or not, hefty phones with a screen size somewhere between a small tablet and a smartphone that struggle to fit in your pants’ pockets are very quickly a thing.

So, will Apple make a so-called phablet?

Apple opted to build an iPhone with a larger screen — the 4-inch iPhone 5 — after a number of competitors like Samsung shipped smartphones with larger screens that became popular. The Galaxy S III, for example, has a 4.8-inch display and is selling well. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2′s screen is a pocket-busting 5.5 inches. Read More »

At a time when many tech manufacturers are building ever-smaller gadgets, some companies at the 2013 CES are going the other way. The “phablet” is a mobile device that’s bigger than a smartphone but not quite a tablet. Video by WSJ’s Thomas Gryta. Read More »